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What if we could look inside human brains? - Moran Cerf

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The brain is what makes us function, yet we understand so little about how it works. We are learning more about the brain by using new technology to monitor epilepsy patients during surgery. Moran Cerf explains the process doctors use to explore the brain further.

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Meet The Creators

Director Candy Kugel

Producer Marilyn Kraemer

Educator Moran Cerf

Animator Rick Broas

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Additional Resources for you to Explore

The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few invertebrates, such as sponges, jellyfish, adult sea squirts, and starfish, do not have one, even if diffuse neural tissue is present. It is located in the head, usually close to the primary sensory organs for such senses as vision, hearing, balance, taste, and smell. The brain of a vertebrate is the most complex organ of its body.This web site provides browsers with images and information from one of the world's largest collection of well-preserved, sectioned, and stained brains of mammals. Viewers can see and download photographs of brains of over 100 different species of mammals (including humans) representing over 20 Mammalian Orders.BrainMaps.org is an interactive multiresolution next-generation brain atlas that is based on over 20 million megapixels of sub-micron resolution, annotated, scanned images of serial sections of both primate and non-primate brains and that is integrated with a high-speed database for querying and retrieving data about brain structure and function over the internet.The Brain from Top to Bottom: an interactive website about the human brain and behaviorBy dissecting a cockroach...yes, live on stage...TED Fellow and neuroscientist Greg Gage shows how brains receive and deliver electric impulses -- and how legs can respond.Ed Boyden shows how, by inserting genes for light-sensitive proteins into brain cells, he can selectively activate or de-activate specific neurons with fiber-optic implants. With this unprecedented level of control, he's managed to cure mice of analogs of PTSD and certain forms of blindness. On the horizon: neural prosthetics.Zombies eat brains. They are also, like all of us, driven by brain functions. What is happening in their brains to make them act as they do? In this intriguing dialogue, Tim Verstynen & Bradley Voytek apply the various human medical possibilities that make zombies...zombies.

About TED-Ed Originals

TED-Ed Original lessons feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed original? Nominate yourself here »